Method of applying container closure



p 20, 1966 J. c. HILL 3,273,303

METHOD OF APPLYING CONTAINER CLOSURE Original Filed May 6, 1959 6 I nvenlor- 107m Ckw'ZeJ Hill.

United States Patent 3,273,303 METHOD OF APPLYING CONTAINER CLOSURE John Charles Hill, London, England, assignor to The Metal Box Company Limited, London, England, a British company Original application May 6, 1959, Ser. No. 811,477, now Patent No. 3,086,672, dated Apr. 23, 1963. Divided and this application Oct. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 227,153 6 Claims. (Cl. 53-42) This invention relates to the closuring of containers by the use of what are known in the art as quarter-turn caps, that is caps, made usually of thin tinplate or thin sheet aluminum, which co-act with multi-start screw threads, usually four in number, formed on the neck of the container to be closed.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 811,477, filed May 6, 1959, for Container Closure, now Patent No. 3,086,672 granted on April 23, 1963.

As is well understood, the so-called quarter-turn caps are more easy to apply to containers and to remove therefrom than are caps which are adapted for cooperation with continuous screw-threads and a number of prior proposals have been made for effecting the initial application of quarter-turn caps to containers. Among such proposals it has been proposed to avoid the necessity of screwing the caps on to the containers by applying to the neck of a container a cap having an annular skirt the free edge of which is provided with a continuous curl, and then by the use of radially operable fingers or other elements, to press portions of the skirt inwards beneath the threads on the neck. However, in all instances prior to the present invention it has been necessary when automatically securing quarter'turn caps to containers to effect either orientation of the container relative to the cap, or orientation of the container relative to the cap threadforming means and it is a main object of the present invention to provide that a cap can be automatically applied to a container having a neck with multi-start threads without the necessity of screwing the cap on to the neck, and without the necessity of eifecting preorientation preparatory to the cap being secured in position on the container.

According to the present invention there is provided a container comprising a neck having formed on the exterior thereof an annular bead which is spaced from the mouth of the neck and from which emanate multi-start screw-threads which extend towards the mouth, and a cap the skirt of which surrounds the neck between said bead and mouth and is provided at the free edge thereof with a continuous curl having contiguous portions thereof respectively compressed against the faces of said threads and engaged beneath the threads thereby to permit the cap to be screwed off of and on to the neck.

Further according to the invention there is provided a method of closuring a container having a neck by providing on the exterior of the neck an annular bead which is spaced from the mouth of the neck and from which emanate multi-start threads which extend towards the mouth, disposing about the neck a cap having an annular skirt provided at the free edge thereof with a continuous curl, and exerting pressure on the curl to cause contiguous portions thereof respectively to be compressed against the faces of said threads and engaged beneath the threads.

Still further according to the invention there is provided a cap for closing the mouth of a container neck having formed on the exterior thereof an annular bead which is spaced from the mouth and from which emanate multi-start screw-threads which extend towards the mouth, comprising a crown and an annular skirt the free edge of which is provided with a continuous curl contiguous por- Patented Sept. 20, 1966 tions of which are respectively flattened and directed inwards towards the axis of the cap to form multi-start threads which emanate from said free edge and extend towards the crown for co-operation with the threads on said container neck.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective illustration of a cap according to the invention;

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 illustrate alternative forms of a cap from which the cap illustrated in FIGURE 1 can be made;

FIGURE 5 illustrates the top of a jar to be fitted with a cap in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 6 illustrates a cap as shown in FIGURE 2, or FIGURE 3, or FIGURE 4, fitted about the neck of a container just prior to operation thereon by a closing ring by which the curled portions of the cap are tailored to the neck of the jar; and

FIGURE 7 illustrates, partly in section, the manner in which the closing ring -co-operates with the cap and jar to secure the cap to the jar.

Referring to FIGURES 2 to 4 of the drawings, the cap is made from thin tinplate, or thin sheet aluminum and comprises a crown 1 from which extends a skirt 2, the free edge of the skirt being formed as a continuous curl 3. The curl may be an inturned curl as illustrated in FIGURE 2, or FIGURE 3, or, if desired, the curl may be an outturned curl as illustrated in FIGURE 4. When, however, the curl 3 is an inturned curl it must always have an outer diameter which is greater than the diameter of the skirt 2, as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1, portions 4 of the curl 3 are flattened and portions 5 contiguous therewith are directed inwards towards the axis of the cap to form multistart threads which emanate from the free edge of the skirt and extend towards the crown 1 for cooperation with threads on the neck of a container. As will be described below the contiguous flattened and inwardly directed portions 4, 5 are for-med in situ about the neck of the container.

Referring to FIGURE 5, the container therein illustrated is a glass jar 6 having a neck 7, and formed on the exterior of the neck 7 is an annular head 8 which is spaced from the mouth of the neck and from which emanate multi-start threads 9 which extend towards the mouth of the neck. When the cap is to be initially secured to the container it is disposed about the neck thereof, as illustrated in FIGURE 6, to surround the neck between the bead 8 and the mouth. The bottom of the container is supported on a platform or the like, not shown, and the jar with the cap resting freely thereon is aligned with a closing ring 10 mounted in any suitable known manner, not shown, for vertical reciprocation as indicated by the double-headed arrow 11. Downward movement of the closing ring 10 causes the circumferentially spaced straight finger or portions 12 of the interior of the ring to engage with the curl 3 and press it inwards towards the vertical axis of the neck of the container so as to tailor the whole of the curl to the neck and cause those portions of the curl which are aligned with the mul-ti-start threads 9 to be compressed and flattened at 4 against the faces of the threads 9 and the portions 5 which are contiguous with the portions 4 to be engaged beneath the threads 9 to form in the cap multi-start screwthreads which secure the cap in position on the container. The fact that the threads 9 emanate from the bead 8 prevents the cap from being rotated past the threads 9 in a clockwise direction and so ensure that when the cap has been secured by the closing ring to the neck it can thereafter, by a quarter-turn movement, be easily removed from the neck and re-applied to the neck.

Although in the foregoing description the closing ring has been described as being movable axially relative to the jar on the support it will be understood that, if desired, the jar and support may be moved axially relative to the closing ring.

The cap may, as illustrated in FIGURE 7, be provided with a disc 13 of cardboard, cork or other material, or if desired with a sealing compound in which the rim of the mouth of the neck can be bedded. When ,a sealing compound is employed it may, in known manner, be located in a channel formed in the crown of the cap.

It will also be understood, that if desired, the container may, during closuring, be vacuumized in any suitable known manner. When the container has been so closurcd the initial turning movement eifected during removal'of the cap from the container causes the tail end of the thread slightly to lift the beaded edge of the cap thus helping to break the vacuum in the container.

I claim:

1. A method of securing a cap on a container having a neck provided with projecting multi-start screw-threads in a manner which permits removal and repositioning of the cap after securement thereof on the container, the method comprising the steps of providing a cap having a smooth skirt with a lower outwardly extending peripheral projection, telescoping the cap over the container neck, and then sliding a closing ring having a tapered opening over the cap to directly inwardly deform primarily the cap peripheral projection around the container neck and into meshing engagement with the screw-threads thereof.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the cap has a crown, and the crown is seated on the container neck with the skirt fully telescoped over the container neck prior to the deformation of the cap.

3. A method of securing a cap on a container having a neck provided with projecting multi-start screw-threads in a manner which permits removal and repositioning of the cap after securement thereof on the container, the method comprising the steps of providing a cap having a 4 smooth skirt with a lower outwardly extending hollow peripheral projection, telescoping the cap over the container neck, and then sliding a closing ring having a tapered opening over the cap to directly inwardly deform primarily the cap peripheral projection around the con-' tainer neck and crushing the cap peripheral projection into meshing engagement with the screw-threads thereof.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the cap has a crown, and the crown is seated on the container neck with the skirt fully telescoped over the container neck prior to the deformation of the cap.

5. A method of closing a container with a cap comprising the steps of providing a container having a neck with there being on the exterior of the neck an annular head which is spaced from the mouth of the neck and from which emanate multi-start screw-threads which extend towards the mouth, disposing about the neck a cap having an annular skirt provided at the free edge thereof with a continuous curl, and exerting circumferential pressure on only the curl to cause contiguous portions thereof respectively to be compressed against the faces of said threads and engaged beneath the threads.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the cap has a crown, and the crown is seated on the container neck with the skirt fully telescoped over the container neck prior to the deformation of the cap.

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,888,397 11/1932 Slick 53362 1,956,210 4/1934 Booth 5342 XR 2,038,524 4/1936 Carvalho 53-42 2,189,628 2/1940 Corsi 53-350 2,409,788 10/1946 Osborne 53--42 2,623,674 12/1952 Thomas 53-42 FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Examiner.

A. E. FOURNIER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF SECURING A CAP ON A CONTAINER HAVING A NECK PROVIDED WIT PROJECTING MULTI-START SCREW-THREADS IN A MANNER WHICH PERMITS REMOVAL AND REPOSITIONING OF THE CAP AFTER SECUREMENT THEREOF ON THE CONTAINER, THE METHOD COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING A CAP HAVING A SMOOTH SKIRT WITH A LOWER OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PERIPHERAL PROJECTION, TELESCOPING THE CAP OVER THE CONTAINER NECK, AND THEN SLIDING A CLOSING RING HAVING A TAPERED OPENING OVER THE CAP TO DIRECTLY INWARDLY DEFORM PRIMARILY THE CAP PERIPHERAL PROJECTION AROUND THE CONTAINER NECK AND INTO MESHING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SCREW-THREADS THEREOF. 